Havering Council New Housing Adjustment Introduced After Working Residents Risked Losing Priority.

Havering Council has made changes to its housing allocation scheme after identifying an issue that could have affected some residents who are in work.

The council introduced a new Housing Allocation Scheme and points system in September 2025 to decide who gets priority for social housing. However, during a review of the new system, officers found that some people who had previously received priority because they were working could have lost that priority when moved onto the new scheme, even though their housing situation had not changed.

To address this, the council has introduced what it is calling the Working Community Adjustment.

The change is designed to ensure that people who are in work and have been on the housing register for several years are not disadvantaged when moving from the old system to the new one. The adjustment means that affected applicants will have their priority better reflect how long they have been waiting for housing as well as their contribution as economically active residents.

The council says the change will be automatically applied to existing applications and residents do not need to take any action. Letters have already been sent to those affected.

Havering Council says the update is intended to make sure the allocation of the borough’s limited supply of social housing remains fair, consistent and transparent. The council also stressed that the change does not affect its legal duty to prioritise households who are homeless.

Councillor Natasha Summers, Havering Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing Need and Climate Change, said the change was made after listening to feedback from residents.

She said the introduction of the Working Community Adjustment ensures the housing allocations scheme remains fair and balanced.

Councillor Summers added that the purpose of the scheme, introduced last September, is to prioritise those with the greatest need, including people experiencing overcrowding, health issues, homelessness and those who have spent a long time on the housing register.

She said the latest update shows the council has acted quickly to correct an area of the policy that could have disadvantaged some long standing working households, which she said was never the intention of the new system.

More information about applying for social housing in Havering can be found on the council’s website.

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